Skye Dance XXVIII

Skye Dance XXVIII blasted off into the Central Texas skies Sunday evening, June 10th, 2001. Conditions were excellent; clear skies, very light winds and temperatures in the low 90s. Four fliers put up 7 flights over the 2 hour waiver period. Click on the flier's name for photos.

Ed Jacoby flew the two most spectacular flights of the launch, putting up his PML Eclipse twice using his experimental, home brew,

Screaming RED

Tom Montemayor put up 3 flights, flying veteran rockets using H, I and J power. Tom put up the first flight of the launch, flying his 9 year old original North Coast Archer with a core H128 airstarting two outboard D12s. The airstarts worked perfectly and the rocket landed safely after deploying at apogee. Next, Tom put up his scratch built 5.5 inch "Stud Duck" using an Aerotech I357 Blue Thunder. Again, the flight and recovery was perfect with the parachute deploying right at apogee. Finally, right at sunset, Tom put up Spectra using a Kosdon J450. The boost was impressive and loud, and the Adept altimeter deployed the drogue right at apogee. The rocket descended fast and controlled and the main deployed right on schedule at 250 feet. The rocket landed in waist high corn to the south of the field resulting in 45 minutes of searching as darkness fell. Finally, in near darkness, Tom virtually stepped on the rocket and recovered it in perfect shape. As the "Children of the Corn" gathered around Tom in near darkness, he made record time getting out of the dark and spooky field. The altimeter indicated a max altitude of 2268 feet.

Terry Parks brought out his LOC IV using a revolutionary RC controlled parachute. Terry ultimately plans to use a GPS unit to steer the rocket back to the pad. For this flight, Terry was using a radio control unit to steer the square parachute at his command. The rocket boosted incredibly fast on the H220 Blue Thunder, but unfortunately, the parachute tangled upon deployment and Terry was unable to steer the tangled chute. The rocket landed hard under the fouled chute and suffered moderate damage.

Jeff Cook returned to Skye Dance after a 9 month absence, showing off his reliable semi-scratch built Aerobee-Hi. Jeff used an Aerotech I211 to power the scale rocket, and an Adept altimeter provided the brains for the dual barometric recovery. Boost and recovery were perfect and the beautiful rocket returned undamaged from an impressive flight.

propellant. The total impulse of the motor was supposed to be in the 700 newton-second range, though the rocket's performance indicated the motor was probably closer to a full I. The motor's flame was an intense red with very little exhaust smoke. Both flights used the same motor with the Olsen altimeter indicating a max altitude of 1400 feet for both flights. Dual barometric recovery returned the rocket safely from both flights, though the main deployed at apogee for the first flight.